C. Hoare & Co: what it offers and how your money is protected

C. Hoare & Co is a UK private bank with a 350-year history¹. It takes deposits and lends, and it offers current accounts designed for day-to-day banking within a private banking service, available in several major currencies¹. Its lending experience runs to more than three centuries².

If you are searching for it by name, the practical questions are usually the same: what does it actually offer, how do I move my banking across, what happens if something goes wrong, and is my money protected if the bank fails? This page answers those in turn. It does not carry rates or fees, because those change and belong on the bank's own site.

What C. Hoare & Co offers its customers

The bank's core retail proposition is a current account for day-to-day banking, sitting inside a private banking relationship¹. Accounts are available in several major currencies, which suits people who earn, spend or hold money in more than one currency rather than converting everything into sterling¹.

Alongside the current account, the bank issues a range of credit and debit cards to enable spending across a number of channels¹. Cards run on the Visa network, so they can be used to withdraw cash and buy goods from any retailer displaying the Visa logo¹. Additional cards can be issued to employees or other third parties, subject to approval, which is relevant if more than one person needs to spend on the same account¹.

The bank also lends. Its permissions cover entering into regulated credit agreements as lender, excluding high-cost short-term credit, bill of sale agreements and home collected credit, and entering into regulated mortgage contracts as lender³. In plain terms, that is personal lending and mortgages rather than payday-style credit.

For the wider market these products sit in, see the guides to current accounts, savings, mortgages and credit cards. The bank's own site is the place to check today's rates, fees and eligibility criteria, since those are not reproduced here.

How C. Hoare & Co lending works: interest-only, fixed or variable, and in several currencies

Lending at a private bank is usually arranged around the borrower rather than picked off a shelf, and the structure matters more than the headline rate. Two distinctions drive most of the cost.

A fixed loan keeps the interest the same for a set period of time⁸. A variable rate can change at any point, typically reflecting a change in the Bank of England's base rate⁸. That difference decides whether your monthly payment is predictable or moves with the wider economy, and it is the single biggest thing to understand before signing.

Interest-only borrowing is a separate choice again. Interest-only mortgages are available with fixed and variable rates, so the two distinctions combine⁹. With interest-only, the monthly payment covers the interest and not the capital, which means there needs to be a separate plan for repaying the balance.

The bank's current accounts are available in several major currencies, and lending in more than one currency follows from that¹. Borrowing in a foreign currency adds a risk that has nothing to do with interest rates: if the currency you borrow in strengthens against the currency you earn in, the real cost of repaying rises.

How C. Hoare & Co charges work and how changes are notified

This page does not list C. Hoare & Co's fees, because they change and the bank publishes them itself. What is worth understanding is how charge changes reach you, and what the rules require of firms generally.

For credit cards, the clearest consumer rule is on interest rate increases: if your credit card company decides to increase your interest rate, it must contact you at least 30 days beforehand¹¹. That gives you time to reject the change and close the account if you would rather not accept it.

More broadly, firms are expected to think about customers before they change how they price things. Under Principle 11, firms should notify the FCA of any change in their pricing model where there is a material risk of harm for customers¹². That is a duty owed to the regulator rather than to you, but it is one reason significant repricing tends to be planned and documented rather than sudden.

Where a firm is required to tell you something, it usually has to do so in writing. Demands for payment and notices about any increase must be made in writing in the service charge context, for example². The same principle of documented notice runs through consumer finance: the notice period that applies to your own account will be set out in your agreement, and it is worth reading that clause before you need it.

Paying with Apple Pay and your C. Hoare & Co card

C. Hoare & Co cards can be enabled for use with Apple Pay and Google Pay¹. That means the card can sit in a digital wallet on a phone or watch and be used without the physical card, which is convenient but changes what you need to do if the device goes missing.

Cards run on Visa, so cash withdrawals and purchases work anywhere the Visa logo is displayed¹. Additional cards can be issued to employees or other third parties, subject to approval, so a business or family can have more than one card against the same relationship¹.

If a phone holding your card is lost or stolen, the advice is to report the phone as stolen and freeze your card immediately, or use a friend's or family member's phone to call your bank¹³. If your card is lost or stolen, report it to your bank immediately¹⁴. Speed is the whole point: the sooner the card is frozen, the smaller the window for spending.

Switching your current account to C. Hoare & Co

C. Hoare & Co is a participant in the Current Account Switch Service, subject to eligibility¹. That service is free and can automatically switch your current account to another bank or building society¹⁵. The practical route is to apply for an account with the new bank, which then moves your accounts and payments for you¹⁶.

If you already have an existing bank account, you can ask your new provider to transfer your balance and all your incoming and outgoing payments over¹⁷. You do not have to contact every organisation that pays you or takes a direct debit; the switch service handles the redirection.

Once the account is open, the bank's online banking lets you transfer funds between accounts and make payments in the UK or abroad¹. There is also a sweep facility that moves money between current and deposit accounts to maintain a minimum or maximum balance, which is a way of keeping a working balance without manually moving money each time¹. Accounts can share limited or full access with delegated users and work with third parties¹.

Fraud, scams and security checks at C. Hoare & Co

No bank, and no government department, will ask for your full security details out of the blue. HMRC says it will never ask for personal or financial information when it sends text messages¹⁸, and Universal Credit states it will never text or email asking for your personal information or bank details¹⁹. The same expectation applies to your bank.

Scammers frequently borrow a real firm's name to look credible. Scammers can use the name of a legitimate firm and sometimes the FSCS logo to try to get you to part with your money⁵. The defence is to verify independently: check the contact details match those listed on Firm Checker to avoid scammers pretending to be a real firm²⁰. Before sharing personal details or sending money, check the company on the Firm Checker²¹.

If something has gone wrong, report it. You can report to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040, and in Scotland, call 101⁷. The same numbers apply to suspicious calls, which can be reported to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or through its online fraud reporting tool²². For computer software service fraud specifically, report online to Report Fraud or by phoning 0300 123 2040, or call police on the non-emergency number 101⁶.

Payments have their own safeguard. Confirmation of Payee is the industry-agreed way of ensuring that names of recipients are checked before payments are sent²³. It works by checking whether the name of the account a payer is sending money to matches the name they have entered, with alerts notifying the payer when there has not been a match²⁴. Alerts tell the payer whether there has been a match, a close match, or no match, meaning corrections can be made before the money leaves²⁴.

How C. Hoare & Co looks after customers' money

Two things matter here: how the bank is expected to treat you, and what happens if it fails.

On treatment, the standard framework is Consumer Duty and Treating Customers Fairly, under which customers are treated in accordance with those principles, with due consideration given to forbearance and breathing space as appropriate²⁵. Where customers fall into arrears, a range of suitable tools is expected to be made available to address the various repayment issues they may face²⁵. That matters most when something has gone wrong, because it sets the expectation that a firm works with you rather than simply escalating.

On failure, the protection is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The first step in checking any provider is to confirm it is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority²⁶. C. Hoare & Co is authorised, and its permissions include accepting deposits³.

If you have a complaint that the bank does not resolve, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it. The ombudsman's service is free to consumers and covers the firms it regulates²⁷. Free, impartial guidance on money matters more generally is available from MoneyHelper.

FSCS protection for C. Hoare & Co deposits

FSCS coverage includes deposits, current accounts and savings accounts⁵. That means money held with C. Hoare & Co in a current or deposit account falls within the scheme, subject to its limits.

The scheme has boundaries worth knowing. FSCS cannot protect e-money or payment services firms⁵, so a balance held with an e-money provider is not covered in the same way as a bank deposit. That distinction matters if you hold money in several places and assume they are all equivalent.

Protection is also counted per banking licence, not per brand. Where several brands share one licence, balances across them count together towards a single limit. The FSCS publishes worked examples of how this applies, including cases such as £60,000 in Lloyds being fully protected within a larger sum spread across institutions⁵. The practical step is to check how your money is held before assuming each account has its own separate cover.

Contacting C. Hoare & Co and complaining

The bank's own site, at www.hoaresbank.co.uk, carries its contact details and current product information³. Because this page does not reproduce fees, rates or opening criteria, the bank's site is the place to confirm what applies to you today.

If you have a complaint, raise it with the bank first. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, the Financial Ombudsman Service can consider it; the service is free to consumers²⁷. For fraud and scams, the reporting route is separate from the complaints route: report to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040, and in Scotland, call 101⁷.

For free, impartial help with money problems more generally, MoneyHelper provides guidance, and debt advice charities such as StepChange offer free support¹⁰. If you are being contacted by firms you did not ask to hear from, the Information Commissioner's Office publishes guidance on nuisance calls²⁸.